Succession star Sarah Snook to play 26 characters in dazzling adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s renowned novel The Picture of Dorian Gray
Adapted and directed by Sydney Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Kip Williams
Performances begin Tuesday 23 January 2024 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
The smash-hit production of The Picture of Dorian Gray will make its UK premiere in January at The Theatre Royal Haymarket, starring the critically acclaimed Sarah Snook in a ground-breaking adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel.
This stunning modern reworking of Wilde’s devastatingly brilliant story is adapted and directed by Sydney Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Kip Williams
The Picture of Dorian Gray will begin performances on Tuesday 23 January 2024, with a Press Night on Wednesday 31 January 2024.
The Picture of Dorian Gray goes on sale today, Thursday 22 June, with tickets available at www.doriangrayplay.com
Wilde’s timeless text is revolutionised by William’s celebrated collision of form employing an explosive interplay of video and theatre through an intricately choreographed collection of on-stage cameras bringing to life a dizzying 26 characters, each brought to life by Snook.
Marking her hotly anticipated return to the London stage following her searing debut in Matthew Warchus’ 2016 production of The Master Builder opposite Ralph Fiennes, Australian star Sarah Snook will play every character in the production.
Snook was most recently seen as Shiv Roy in HBO’s hit series Succession, a role that earned her global acclaim. Over Succession’s four seasons she received a Golden Globe Award and a Critics Choice Award and was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In Australia, Snook has won two Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for her work in film and television. She received a nomination for the Logie Award for most outstanding actress for her performance in 2015’s The Beautiful and a Helpmann Award nomination for best female actor in a play for her performance in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Saint Joan.
“I am elated to return to the London stage in such an astonishing piece of theatre,” Snook said. “From Oscar Wilde’s remarkable original text to Kip Williams’ stunning adaptation, this story of morality, innocence, narcissism, and consequence is going to be thrilling to recreate for a new audience. I can’t wait.”
Williams’ interpretation of beauty, excess, and a deal with the devil holds striking resonance in our current era, holding a mirror to 21st century society’s narcissistic obsession with youth.
Enrapturing audiences, the acclaimed Australian premiere season in 2020 was extended twice in Sydney and played to critical and audience acclaim throughout the country.
Director and Adapter, Kip Williams said “In creating a new piece of theatre like The Picture of Dorian Gray you always hope to have the opportunity to share it with a wider audience. I am so excited for theatre lovers in London to experience our show and am thrilled to have the extraordinary Sarah Snook bringing to life the many characters of Oscar Wilde’s remarkable story.”
“I knew, from the very first time I saw The Picture of Dorian Gray, that it deserved a global audience,” Michael Cassel, producer of the West End season, said. “Kip Williams’ genius production is transformative, innovative, transfixing and entertaining and I am beyond excited that the inimitable Sarah Snook will star in this incredible production.”
Co-producer Adam Kenwright said, “This thrilling new look at one of Oscar Wilde’s most seminal works is a benchmark work of modern theatre and I am delighted to be joining my good friend Michael Cassel and team bringing it to London. A huge degree of thanks must go to Theatre Royal Haymarket’s Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen. We are enlivened by their vision and their partnership in bringing The Picture of Dorian Gray to London.”
Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is adapted and directed by Kip Williams, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray stars Sarah Snook. Design is by Marg Horwell, Lighting Design by Nick Schlieper, Composition & Sound Design by Clemence Williams, and Video Design by David Bergman. The London season is produced by Michael Cassel, Adam Kenwright, Len Blavatnik and Danny Cohen, Daryl Roth, Amanda Lipitz and Henry Tisch, Jonathan Church.
Tickets to The Picture of Dorian Gray
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
The Theatre Royal Haymarket
CAST
Sarah Snook
CREATIVE TEAM
Adapter & Director: Kip Williams
Scenic & Costume Designer: Marg Horwell
Lighting Designer: Nick Schlieper
Composer & Sound Designer: Clemence Williams
Video Designer: David Bergman
Dramaturg & Creative Associate: Eryn Jean Norvill
PRODUCTION DATES
Tuesday 23 January – Saturday 13 April 2024
ABOUT SARAH SNOOK
A natural talent with a striking presence on screen and on-stage, award-winning Sarah Snook continues to establish herself as one of Hollywood’s most dynamic actresses.
Sarah can most recently be seen on the final season of the HBO award-winning series SUCCESSION.
For her portrayal of ‘Shiv Roy’ over the past four seasons she has received a Golden Globe Award and a Critics Choice Award and been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. The series has received critical acclaim and, among its many accolades, won Best Drama Series at the 2020 and 2022 Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice TV Awards, and won Outstanding Drama Series at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards.
This year, Sarah was seen starring in Sundance thriller RUN RABBIT RUN for STX films portraying a fertility doctor who believes firmly in life and death, but after noticing the strange behaviour of her young daughter, must challenge her own values and confront a ghost from her past. Sarah also serves as an executive producer on the film that will be released on Netflix on June 28.
Upcoming, she will be seen starring in Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash’s THE BEANIE BUBBLE alongside Elizabeth Banks and Zach Galifianakis for Apple. The film, which follows the story of the biggest toy craze in history, will be released theatrically on July 21 and streaming on Apple TV+ on July 28.
In 2021, Sarah had a supporting role in Kornél Mundruczó’s PIECES OF A WOMAN alongside Vanessa Kirby. The film premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival in competition and also screened at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.
Previously, Sarah starred as the lead in the 2015 Australian drama series THE BEAUTIFUL LIE, which earned her a Logie Award nomination for Most Outstanding Actress as well as the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama. This marked Sarah’s second AACTA nomination in this category, which she previously won for her performance in the 2012 television movie SISTERS OF WAR. Her additional television credits include AMC’s anthology drama series SOULMATES from Emmy-winning writer Will Bridges and Brett Goldstein, an episode of BLACK MIRROR, THE SECRET RIVER, THE MOODYS, REDFERN NOW, SPIRITED, BLOOD BROTHERS, PACKED TO THE RAFTERS, MY PLACE, and ALL SAINTS.
On the big screen, Sarah’s first major role in America was in Danny Boyle’s STEVE JOBS alongside Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. Written by Aaron Sorkin, the biographical drama premiered to critical acclaim at the 2015 Telluride Film Festival and later went on to receive two Oscar nominations.
Sarah delivered her most notable film performance as the complex lead “Jane/John” alongside Ethan Hawke in the science-fiction thriller PREDESTINATION, for which she received the AACTA Award and the Film Critics Circle of Australia award for Best Actress.
Other film credits include AN AMERICAN PICKLE with Seth Rogen, the supernatural horror film WINCHESTER with Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke; THE GLASS CASTLE alongside Brie Larson; HOLDING THE MAN opposite Guy Pearce; THE DRESSMAKER with Kate Winslet; BROTHER’S NEST; ODD BALL; JESSABELLE; THESE FINAL HOURS; NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN; and SLEEPING BEAUTY.
A trained actress, Sarah established herself in the world of theatre through her performances in King Lear with the State Theatre Company of South Australia; three productions for the Griffin Theatre Company including Lovely/Ugly: Transformer, Crestfall, and S27; alongside Ralph Fiennes in The Master Builder at London’s iconic Old Vic Theatre; and most recently, in Saint Joan for the Sydney Theatre Company, for which she won Best Female Actor in a Play at Australia’s 2019 Helpmann Awards.
